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Felting
or: Making Something from (Sheep)-HAIR
Taking a little bit of wool, my friend René and I felted a smart strong ball.
"Felting" basically means damaging hair. This can be done quite easily by using water, soap, motion and a bit of pressure.
After soaping our hands, we rolled several fragments of wool into a small ball. Then we moisturized it and added a further layer of wool, taking care to spread it out as well as possible. After finishing this, we again added another layer, another and another...
We continued this process until we had created a really large ball.
We kneaded this ball thoroughly for almost an hour. And then we discovered something amazing: By kneading and pressing the ball, it had become about three times smaller and more solid.
So our once-large, now small ball is completed. Possible applications for this ball we made would be to cut it apart and explore the various layers and different colors, to leave it as it is and just play around with it, to use it as a toy for the cat, to make it a mini-basketball, to use it as a fly-scare, etc....
If you also want to produce such small balls, you will need colored and carded wool, water, and a good deal of patience.
Of course many other things such as hats, cushions, coats and ____, and ____, and... can be made of felt. The famous Rasta (Reggae music, Bob Marley) hairstyle which is often found in the Caribbean area is created in a similar way.
